Ray Carter remembers Prince George fondly, as a city he called home for two years.
More recently, he thinks of it as home to top-notch baseball events.
"P.G. feels like a second home, it's always fun seeing the places and the people," said Carter, the long-time president of Baseball Canada, who was in the city Tuesday along with Baseball B.C. executive director David Laing to officially name Prince George as the host city of the 2012 Baseball Canada Senior Championship.
"I lived here in 1965-66. It was a booming town, maybe 20,000 or 25,000 people, but things were going up all over the place -- two pulp mills, communication systems. It was a great time."
The 2012 tournament, which will see the men's Canadian baseball champion crowned after play takes place Aug. 23-26 of that year, is expected to attract up to 10 teams. The same national tournament was played in Prince George, at the since-demolished Monty Gabriele Park, in 2002.
Carter, who grew up on Vancouver Island and now lives in the Lower Mainland, spoke to a full room at the Coast Inn after meeting with local baseball officials and civic leaders over lunch at Shooter's Pub.
"The 2002 tournament was such an outstanding event, and the fan base was just so enthused no matter what game you went to," said Carter.
"The entire community was supportive. How does that happen? It's the volunteers who organize the event, and that's what I remember about it. I remember there were no glitches, it went off without a hitch, and I'm 100 per cent comfortable with bringing it back to Prince George. In 2002, this city was ready, the committee was ready.
"I think about the little kids who go to those events, and who see these big guys and want to play baseball. That's how they get to love the game."
Prince George beat out Kelowna and Trail for the right to host, and Laing said it was the strength of the bid committee and the key volunteers in place that nudged Prince George ahead.
"(Bid chair) Virginia Sprangers, the work she did, it cannot be overstated how strong that package was," said Laing, who managed the Burnaby Bulldogs to the national title in 2010, beating host Dartmouth in the final.
Laing's Bulldogs represented B.C. at the 2002 tournament, losing in the bronze-medal game to Quebec. Alberta won that event.
"She deserves so much credit because Prince George won this on the completeness of the package, how it answered every question. It was beyond thorough, and it speaks to the background of the people here. The volunteers here and the track record put Prince George over the top. The support is community-wide, Prince George is the hotbed for baseball in this province."
Laing, who was on the coaching staff of Team Canada for the 2009 World Baseball Challenge, hopes to be in uniform for the 2012 nationals.
"In 2002, we really didn't realize how good the nationals were, and we now have this as our goal every year -- it's an honour to play in nationals," he said.
"That first nationals experience in Prince George really stands out. It took us 10 years to win it, it's that tough."
Sprangers, who arranged for Carter and Laing to come to Prince George for meetings, spoke about the help that came from the corporate community, notably Coast Inn, Shooter's Pub, Northern Spirit Transportation, Papyrus Printing, PGTV, and Up The Creek Garment Company.
"The community backing has been outstanding -- 100 per cent from sponsors who helped us with the merchandise for the presentation, for the bid package design, and for the video," said Sprangers.
"We are so grateful. We wouldn't have this tournament coming here if not for that community buy-in."
